Dutch Researchers Investigate Use of Cost-Effective ALP Coatings on Implants

While millions of people receive implants every year ranging from teeth to hip joints, developing the perfect material for orthopaedic and dental implants has been proven quite difficult. Scientists have discovered that the body’s response to nanomaterials is different than its reaction to conventional materials and that nanopatterning of the surface of implant materials therefore leads to much more compatible prostheses. 

Researchers in the Netherlands are now proposing a simple and cost-effective alternative to traditional biomedical coatings for implants. ”We found that the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP) can be used to produce novel biomedical implant coatings using a very simple one-step procedure,” Lise T. de Jonge, PhD student in the Department of Biomaterials at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center,  told Nanowerk, a platform for comprehensive nanotechnology and nanoscience resources. “By triggering enzymatically-controlled bone mineralisation pathways, the ALP-coated implants stimulate mineralisation at the interface of implant materials. In this way, an early and strong fixation of bone implants might be realised with significant clinical impact.” De Jonge is the first author of a recent paper in Advanced Functional Materials that investigates the feasibility of the electrospray deposition technique (ESD) to apply homogeneous, biologically-active coatings onto implant surfaces. 

Led by professor John Jansen, the team of researchers used the ESD technique for the deposition of ALP onto titanium substrates, which were subsequently tested in vitro according to both established and novel soaking procedures. Titanium is a common implant material due to its excellent biocompatibility. 

Although organic, bone-inducing agents have been immobilised onto implant surfaces to affect active bone formation, these agents are extremely expensive and associated with immunological risks. So the cost-effective, bio-inspired ALP coatings developed by the Dutch team could soon become an alternative for conventional ceramic and/or growth factor-based coatings.

Tags: biologically active coatings, Implants